Thoughts on Recent Events....

Mr. President, you are officially back on my nerves. I'm not sure if you ever got off of them, but you were definitely less on them before this week. Who do you think you are, stepping on people's First Amendment rights? If the Catholic church doesn't believe in contraception, in fact even goes so far as to think it's morally wrong, why are you insisting they go against their religion and provide birth control to all employees? To me, this isn't about contraceptives. I don't share the same ideas on this subject as the Catholic church. But what aggravates me is that the government (specifically the executive branch) is trying to force a religion to do something it deems morally wrong.

Some claim this is a women's rights issue. What I say to those people, get your own birth control! It's seriously not that expensive if you have insurance (which, thanks to Mr. President, you should have). If the president really wants to make companies provide something that will benefit everyone, make them provide multivitamins or something. Or exercise videos. Or gym memberships. People keep saying that women have the right to decide whether or not they want to have a child. I totally agree. If a woman doesn't want a child, she has the right to decide not to engage in actions that would lead to having children or the right to find a contraceptive herself.

And on the subject of forcing things on people, Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth District Court. Even though more Californians voted for the bill than against it. The PEOPLE agreed to the proposition. The PEOPLE told the court they didn't want gay marriage in their state. And the court said, "Too bad."

I think judicial review should be unconstitutional, to be honest. There's nothing in the constitution that says the courts have the right to declare something unconstitutional. It should be the responsibility of the states or of the House. That puts the power in the hands of the American people to declare whether something fits with their constitution. Why someone thought it would be a good idea to put the interpretation of the Constitution in the hands of a half dozen or so people is beyond me. Especially when there are few checks on that branch of the government.

I'm worried that if the Supreme Court declares Prop 8 unconstitutional, churches will be forced to perform gay and lesbian marriages. Again, we're back to stepping on churches' rights. I believe gay marriages are wrong and contrary to the commandments of God. I believe that the only way to ensure happiness in this life and the next is to marry someone of the opposite gender in the temple by the right authority. I believe the temple is sacred, and I worry that the Church will be forced to give gay couples the same services as traditional couples. What will happen if a gay couple demands to be married in a temple? What could we do? We can't leave the country for the frontier like we tried to do in the 1800s.... Maybe we'll take Gingrich's advice and go to the moon. : /

I'll only touch briefly on the Powell story, mostly because I've been thinking way too much about it and it makes me physically sick. The act that occurred on Sunday was pure evil, but I'm glad those beautiful boys are safe and happy with their mother. This sounds kind of weird, but the event made me wish I had kids so I could hold them and kiss them and assure them that they will always be loved and that I'd never let anything bad happen to them if I could help it.

I keep reading the newest information about Sunday... But I probably shouldn't. It just blows my mind how hard Satan tries to break apart families. And how devastating it is when he succeeds. My heart goes out to the Cox family.

In happy news, plane ticket prices to Manchester have gone down. :) And it's the 10 year anniversary for the 2002 Olympics. That was such a good year for me. :) So many fun memories of going to Olympic events and visiting Nauvoo.

Sorry for the heavy post. A lot on my mind lately....